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Mate brought a bike looked mint, ran well bloke was really genuine he brought it off in Birmingham. Got to the petrol station and filled up, dead battery and wouldn't start. Electrical problem not charging didn't have a clue though when he went to see it. I would never ever buy a bike I hadn't ridden.
If you spending that amount of money on a bike, consider getting an AA or RAC check done on it. (If they do them on bikes). It costs money, but surely worth paying a bit extra for piece of mind.
Would be worth getting a mechanic/mot tester to go with you to look it over. Check the owners forums and look for common issues with the bike so it gives you an idea of what to look for. BMW as a whole build very reliable bikes and the finish is second to non. Look for the obvious, tyres, drive train, bounce the suspension front and rear, give the forks a wipe to check for leaks, check all the lights work, check engine for any noises that shouldn't be there, pay attention the the owner of he's all about knee down on a track chances are its been used hard so check for hidden crash damage and do a hpi check which will show any finance or insurance records.
From experience the S1000RR seems a very well built bike and we have seen no problems with them as of yet.
As above check on forums for common faults but also for any manufacturers recalls, do a history check as £10 is a lot to pay privately. Check on E-bay, MCN, etc.. to make sure the price asked for is under dealer prices (especially this time of year when they will be discounting)
If in any doubt walk away as there will be others. If it is in a few hundred quid of a dealers price for the same year, mileage a few hundred quid is worth it for peace of mind.
whatever you do don't take the asking price with you for a test ride. The seller maybe honest but that is way too much to have about your person. Somebody must have caught out by now and mugged when taking a wad along to look over a bike, or had their car broken into
You haven't mentioned how many miles it has on it
Chances are at £10K for a secondhand bike you are talking about a 1 or 2 owner bike? If it's 1 owner and the seller is that original owner it takes a lot of worry out about it being the bike they say it is.
I bought my Street Triple under similar circumstances from the 1st owner via the Street Triple Forum, took some cash to show willing and paid the owner by direct bank transfer once I'd looked the bike over
I recently bought my Daytona from a chap up in Manchester via Ebay. To check him out I looked into his account, found a pic of him and his lad, he looked sound. I asked him to scan and send over the paperwork to me for the bike, with that I google earthed his house, which matched his photo on EBay. He was the first and only owner which made it easier, pretty unlikely the one and only owner is going to rebuild a wreck or stolen bike as that is normally done the other way around - i.e buy a legit frame or bike and built it back up with stolen parts...I really can't see much dodgyness going on with first owners
one engine that goes vroom vroom.
Two wheels
one seat
Joking aside, look for leaks after it has been idling for a while. Check the engine is cold then get the seller to start. Pay attention to what he/she does, do they immediately show you it revs through the range (this would tell me they rag their bike as they are not letting it warm up) Does the rear tyre has chicken strips. this give you a good indication how it has been ridden. General condition, smoke from exhaust, etc. rips oin seat, milage, etc, etc etc.
Start from the front wheel and work your way around bit by bit checking everything including chain tension and the other stuff you might not know. Check its clean but not too clean, etcetcetc.
Good luck and enjoy the experience
Hi Rob
I can remember you testing an RR at The North Oxford Road Garage a while back now. Good advice from other members especially taking someone else with you who knows bikes inside out or a full AA/RAC inspection. Buyer beware!!! You have no rights or guarantees buying private.
I'm really impressed that you remember my test ride!! It certainly stands out in my head as being one of the best days of last yearOriginally Posted by gibbo
Theres been some really great advice from everyone. I should be going to look at the bike on Saturday, so I'll update you all then!
General tips are:
Be a bike geek. Know everything there is to know about the bike you are looking at. Owners clubs, other riders and forums such as this are excellent sources of information.
Make a checklist and go through it. If it fails badly it's probably a dud.
Does the owner have all the paperwork in his name.
Are you at the owners house. Sounds silly but if it's unloaded from a van into a layby ask why?
Ask how long its been owned, check this against the V5, why it is being sold, how much it was ridden etc... get chatting to the owner about his/her riding.
Has it been serviced? Look at the general condition. Is it clean. A good indicator of use are the fork legs. If these have high degrees of salt pitting, the bike has been used in the winter. This may give lie to any claims of dry/summer use only.
Does it start properly, no blue smoke, no coughing, do all the bits (lights, brakes etc) work. And ride it. Check it goes in a straight line, stops properly, pulls well in all gears and has no nasty habits. Away from the owner go over it with a knit comb.
Finally if you have any doubts walk away. There are plenty more motorcycles in the world.
Good luck!
Hi guys,
Many thanks for your help with tips for looking at new bikes. I went to see the bike yesterday and it looks immaculate - it looks like it was rolled out of the showroom and if the checks all clear I'll go for it.
My question now is what online checks can I do for the bike that anyone knows of? I know there is HPI check and the gov.uk has a few checks you can do. What else is there?
Thanks!
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